By Sam Andersen
Hearkening back to their roots, Provo natives and pop giants Imagine Dragons are using a scaled-up version of the beloved Velour stage as their backdrop for their sold-out shows, as seen at the Hollywood Bowl performance above. The new stage also features footage from one of their early shows at Velour of a rendition of “It’s Time” dedicated to a special fan, Tyler Robinson. At the time, Tyler was in the throes of his battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
Tyler passed at the young age of 17. He was known for his optimism, courage, and zest for life. His friendship and story inspired Imagine Dragons to found the Tyler Robinson Foundation, an organization that focuses on “[strengthening] families financially and emotionally as they cope with the tragedy of a pediatric cancer diagnosis by offsetting out-of-pocket life expenses.” Imagine Dragons has held several benefit concerts to support the foundation and inspire hope in families like Tyler’s.
Corey Fox, longtime owner of Velour and friend of the band, commented, “It’s surreal to see out intimate Velour stage transform to the big stage!” He said the combination of the graphics and the 2011 footage brings up a lot of emotions. I can’t help but agree.
If you haven’t watched the footage yet, you should check it out. It’s worth the watch. It’s very surreal to see a band that has now garnered tens of billions of streams walk onto the Velour stage, on video footage that was taken in a day and age where we didn’t care as much if the camera was held perfectly still or if it was worthy for the Instagram story.
Throughout the intro of this rendition of “It’s Time” dedicated to Tyler, a flurry of voices call out to him. “Tyler! I love you.” “That’s my boy!!” “Ty! Ty, this is for you. This is your night, we love you.” “Hey, someone get him up!” Several friends then lift Tyler up on their shoulders for the remainder of the song.
It captures a moment where everyone (Dan Reynolds, Tyler Robinson, and the audience) were singing as loud as they could. Not because they loved Imagine Dragons, but because they loved Tyler. When the crowd screamed, “the path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell,” they were singing for Tyler. It was his favorite lyric. I’ve never seen anyone smile so big.
It’s amazing to see such a colossal band still pay homage not only to their roots, but to families and individuals that are braving the battle against cancer.
Imagine Dragons recently concluded their North American leg of their LOOM World Tour and are currently making their way across Asia and Europe. If you’re interested in learning about or donating to the Tyler Robinson Foundation, you can visit their website here or their Instagram page here.